I. Field
The following description relates generally to communications systems, and more particularly to selecting a home agent to utilize in connection with wireless terminal registration.
II. Background
Wireless networking systems have become a prevalent means to communicate with others worldwide. Wireless communication devices, such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, and the like have become smaller and more powerful in order to meet consumer needs and to improve portability and convenience. Consumers have become dependent upon these devices, demanding reliable service, expanded areas of coverage, additional services (e.g., web browsing capabilities), and continued reduction in size and cost of such devices.
A typical wireless communication network (e.g., employing frequency, time, and code division techniques) includes one or more base stations that provides coverage areas to subscribers as well as mobile (e.g., wireless) devices that can transmit and receive data within the coverage areas. A typical base station can simultaneously transmit multiple data streams to multiple devices for broadcast, multicast, and/or unicast services, wherein a data stream is a stream of data that can be of independent reception interest to a user device. A user device within the coverage area of that base station can be interested in receiving one, more than one or all the data streams carried by the composite stream. Likewise, a user device can transmit data to the base station or another user device.
To enable a wireless device to communicate within a wireless network, such device or a host associated therewith must be configured, which includes registering the wireless device with an entity that facilitates mobility management. In conventional cellular systems, a public-switched data network (PSDN) is utilized to determine which entity is to be associated with the wireless device. This can be important if one or more mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) has leased network infrastructure, as each MVNO can be desirably associated with a mobility management server. Thus, the wireless terminal is to be associated with a mobility management server that is leased or related to an MVNO that “owns” the subscriber utilizing the wireless device. Again, conventionally this is accomplished at the PSDN, which is a first connection point for IP in conventional networks. As networks adapt over time to enable IP connections to occur at a periphery of networks, however, new manners of determining which mobility management server to associate with a wireless terminal will become necessary.